General Election GDT 11/04/2008

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by Underdog

You're right...

A better basketball metaphor would be: "TRADE DIRK!!! Dallas hasn't won a Championship since he's been here, so it must be HIS fault (why does Cuban keep sticking with him???)"

no, your analogy would be "TRADE DIRK!! We've been at the bottom of the league since he's been here, so obviously we need to try a different star (why does Cuban keep sticking with him???)" which is obviously ill-formed.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

no, your analogy would be "TRADE DIRK!! We've been at the bottom of the league since he's been here, so obviously we need to try a different star (why does Cuban keep sticking with him???)" which is obviously ill-formed.

Sure - use that one if you want...

But the point is that it's NOT Dirk's fault - trading for another star isn't going to make up for a lack of a starting 2-guard, no backup PG and no low-post presence...

Trade out a Democrat for a Republican and you're still going to have all the same problems that lie beyond the mayor's control...

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Sure - use that one if you want...

But the point is that it's NOT Dirk's fault - trading for another star isn't going to make up for a lack of a starting 2-guard, no backup PG and no low-post presence...

It'll make more sense if we frame it more accurately:
"We've been at the bottom of the league with Mike Finley as our #1 guy! Get us a new #1 guy. "
Of course there are always lots of factors, but no team with Mike Finley as their #1 guy is going to get far out of the cellar. It's not Mike Finley's fault - he just doesn't have the tools. It's probably more correct to say it's the fault of whoever would keep building a team with Mike Finley as the #1 guy. In the end, in the late 90's, it didn't really matter who's fault it was, the undeniable fact was that the Mavs needed a new #1 guy.

Trade out a Democrat for a Republican and you're still going to have all the same problems that lie beyond the mayor's control...

You cannot say that unless you've actually tried something other than Democrat, and for those cities on the list they haven't (at least haven't for a long, long time).